From the def end of the court this trade makes us better just because we don't have Gordon on the court, as great as he can be when he's hot.... he isn't good enough at the def end of the court to warrant being on the court to the level of his salary.

I am hoping that CV is gone shortly... and we need to figure a way to reduce our SF's down abit....

Props to Joe for unloading the 2nd worst contract in the league (slightly behind 'Shard Lewis @ #1).
To me, this trade has absolutely nothing to do with the two players involved. This was all about un-doing a bad mistake. The mistake still lingers until Maggette is either moved or he leaves in free agency.

As for the draft pick that we had to send MJ to get him to take Gordon off our hands, it's fully lottery protected for next year, top-8 protected for Year 2, top-1 protected for Year 3 and unprotected in Year 4.
Basically, what this means is that Charlotte will get a pick somwhere in the teens in 2 years. The Pistons WILL be in the lottery next season. The following season, they should make the playoffs as a 6th-8th seed and that's the pick that the Bobcraps will get.

Someone earlier mentioned that the feel bad for Ben Gordon due to the fact that he's going to the worst team in the NBA.
I don't feel bad for Ben Gordon one freaking bit. He did NOTHING to earn his money in Detroit. He cheated Joe, his coaches and us fans during his time with the Pistons. Yes, he was put in a bad situation and I give him props for remaining professional and not being a complainer. - But the dude just didn't take it upon himself to do what it took to get the job done. He didn't pull his weight. He coasted. ...Damn glad to see him gone!

Now Joe can fork over some cash for the good old amnesty for Charlie Villanueva and maybe we can NOW begin to rebuild this team.

Ben Gorden reminds me of Rodney Stuckey. I remember when Ben became a free agent..........I didn't want him cause the Bulls were letting him go too easily.
My guess is that we were the only team interested in his services. JD shoulda never bid.

Then comes along Rodney............Rodney becomes a free agent.............I didn't want him cause he wasn't worth the money..........like Gordon.
My guess is that we were the only team interested in his services. JD shoulda never bid.

What's scary is.............Reminiscent of the salary dump the Pistons orchestrated in saving 20 million in cap room by taking on Iverson's salary for a year before Dumars went and wasted most of it by signing both Gordon and Villenueva. Will this little 'caper' make any more sense? hopefully so..........

The first step to recovery is acknowledging you have a problem. Signing Ben Gordon was so bad, it cost the franchise money, flexibility, opportunity and now it costs the future. At the same time, he didn't fit here and something had to be done. First we got him and didn't get rid of Rip so that didn't work out. Then when he did play, it just exposed his need for a facilitator - one we didn't have. As he kept passing to Big Ben as the shot clock wound down or dribbled off his foot or stepped out of bounds or - insert random unforced turnover here - he became one of the worst key guys to any team ever.

BG and CV were terrible investments - the kind that gets guys fired. I supported these at the time. But fundamentally, this franchise find success when, from top to bottom, it aligns itself with its core values: defense, teamwork and toughness. Hiring Flip was a step away from this so the talent floundered...and we had serious talent. Then we added players who were the antithesis of these values - AI (teamwork), BG (defense), CV (all of them). Its no wonder the Pistons were the laughing stock of the league, the front office acted like Minnesota and started collecting players that would be at home with the Clippers or the Bobcats. It hired a coaching staff that did not fit the mould of the core values. The tragedy of it all is we never got a top 5 pick out of all that.
Finally, we have Lawrence Frank who sacrificed the first half of the season to work on defense. We have talent that fans can be proud to call Pistons (even if they doubt Knight's passing ability). As the team moves on, I hope Joe figures out WHY BG and CV never worked out here and doesn't repeat it.

Hate losing a pick, but if it dumps a player that wasn't working out and allows us to have cap flexibility to use in the trade/free agent market I understand. The question is, will the team make the same mistake and waste that space again.

You also have to appreciate adding Corey Maggette to a team with the SG version of Corey Maggette (Rodney Stuckey). It's practically meta (has no idea if using term appropriately).

If the Pistons can't find the perfect fit for their cap space then I hope they do not use it. That is what they should have done the last time and it would have gotten them higher picks these non-playoff years.

If the Pistons can't find the perfect fit for their cap space then I hope they do not use it. That is what they should have done the last time and it would have gotten them higher picks these non-playoff years.

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As long as Joe continues to bid against himself, I'm cool with whatever he wants to do in regard to signing FAs.

This is a very very good move - in a sense that it undoes a very costly mistake. Now Joe's on the hook to get this team better and with this trade the clock started ticking; he essentially has two years left. Because if we're in the lottery again in 2015 and we lose our pick to Charlotte because of this trade Joe will be fired. On the other hand if things work out the way they're teed up and we are in the playoffs in 2014 this is going to go down as "the trade that turned the corner for the Pistons".

This erases a mistake and makes it possible to do further moves. Yes, it makes me nervous what Joe might do with the money, but he had to get to this position before he could do anything.

I'm going to put this one in the "good move" column for Trader Joe.
He managed to get rid of the 2nd worst contract in the league and it will likely end up costing him somewhere around the 17th pick in the 2014 draft. I'm cool with that.

He also accelerated his ability to make future trades by moving a player from the liability category (Gordon) to the asset category (C-Magg's expiring deal).

Maggette isn't that bad of a player either. Think about this......who was our backup wing last season? Gerald Wilkins. Maggs is a definite upgrade over Wilkins. Also, I have no problem with a 3 guard rotation of Knight, Stuckey and Bynum; I believe that with a defined role and consistent minutes that Will B. can be a more effective spark off the bench than Gordon.

I think the amnesty gets used on CV. Now you are rid of multiple crappy contracts.

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It's smart for us to make the lottery again THIS season, as it will keep our pick and allows us to add another piece in the same summer that we have some nice $$$ for free agency and good way to do that is to start Chaz, let him bomb away and get his numbers...........showcase him for a trade thus getting rid of him without using the amnesty clause.

It's smart for us to make the lottery again THIS season, as it will keep our pick and allows us to add another piece in the same summer that we have some nice $$$ for free agency and good way to do that is to start Chaz, let him bomb away and get his numbers...........showcase him for a trade thus getting rid of him without using the amnesty clause.

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Why would you keep the amnesty clause, if you really good reason to use it? Moving CV opens playing time for our youth, especially if we get a decent pick tomorrow.

When you amnesty a player, you still pay him whatever he is due minus the top bidder. I don't see anyone lining up to be able to snatch away CV. If we amnesty, we'll have to pay a substantial amount of his contract to him. Because we're not going anywhere again this year, it's better to hang on to him and use him as trade asset (as in expiring contract) for now. If all of a sudden we make the playoffs this year, we can amnesty him next summer to go after a FA.